Terry Lost and Found
by Reichenbach
Summary: Terry has a rough night and someone finds out something they shouldn't.


I don't own. This is for Haven Corridor and their Batman Beyond month. Appologies to Brendan-I'm saving the 'other ending' for something else **WINK**  
  
Terry Lost and Found  
  
**  
  
Throwing opened the door to her son's darkened bedroom, Mary McGinnis was tempted to murder him. A quick check of the rumpled sheets and unmade bed showed that the boy had not come home yet, nor had his bed been slept in the last two nights.  
  
Pressing the light pad on the wall, the room lit, and she looked around. At a cursory glance, nothing appeared out of the ordinary-the room was a sty. Of course, with a delinquent son, when did anything appear. amiss.  
  
She'd already called his employer. The answering service had picked up-both times she'd called. She hadn't been informed of any outings or society functions, all she knew was that her boy had failed to come home-AGAIN.  
  
Maybe it was drugs. Maybe he was back into the gangs, she didn't know. She'd hoped that getting a real job and having responsibility would change Terry's ways, but for every sign of hope that she received, there were two more incidences of the old Terry popping up.  
  
Worried for her son, and without any choice left, she began searching his room. She overturned piles of garbage and dirty clothes, pulled opened drawers and looked under the bed. Why was he such a difficult child?  
  
"Terry's in tro-oble!"  
  
Mary spun around and scowled at her seven year old. "Matt, get your butt back in bed right this minute!" She chased him out of the room, hitting the light on her way out. This one was going to grow up to be another trouble maker, if she didn't watch it.  
  
After making sure Matt was back in bed, she went back to the living room and tried to call Wayne Manor again.  
  
* * *  
  
There wasn't much space to hide, the fire fight had ignited in three different spots of the factory, and Terry knew he couldn't take all of them on. There were nineteen of them, one of him, and they were all hopped up on Got knows what, and he'd already been hit-once in the chest with a plasma bolt disabling half the systems in the suit, the other was a ceramic tile to the head.  
  
That severely limited what he could do at this point-no flying capabilities, no stealth capabilities, strength enhancers gone haywire.  
  
"Well," he said to himself, "The old man thought I was going to be lazy while he was out of town. At least I can prove I was doing something." He leapt off the packaging machine upon which he'd been perched, taking out four guys with momentum alone.  
  
As he moved to the next group, a painful blow knocked him across the face. At least Wayne could stand up at his funeral and say he hadn't been a lazy kid.  
  
* * *  
  
Matt crept back into his brother's room. Mom had called Mr. Wayne like three times now, and no answer. She'd said she was getting worried about Mr. Wayne, too. That's why mom was on the phone with the cops now.  
  
That was also why he was in Terry's room. He was gonna find out why his brother wasn't home. Matt was sure it was something bad. His brother was a hardened criminal after all. Using his official Justice League Unlimited flash light, he started going through his brother's closet. All that stuff mom kept muttering about lying in a ditch, dead somewhere was just dumb. Maybe Terry killed the old guy then turned him into sausage and ate him. Maybe he eloped with Dana.  
  
Digging under the coats and clothes on the bottom of his brother's closet, Matt discovered something-his brother did not wash socks. Apparently he just bought new. There was a sea of stinky, muddy socks that was probably going to come alive with smelly energy and consume his brother. At least Matt could wish.  
  
Who did Terry think he was, anyway? He was never around, and when he was, all he did was give mom a hard time. And before he came to live with them, Matt had the big bedroom. Now he was in mom's reading room, and he wanted his old room back. Before he was with mom, Terry lived with dad, and Matt didn't like that any more. Life was so unfair.  
  
Matt found a Superman holo card in one of Terry's pockets, and some money. Without any scruple, he shoved the items into the pocket of his night shirt and kept digging. Even if he didn't find anything on his brother, he could at least make this a profitable adventure. His only regret was that it was a Superman card and not a Batman card.  
  
Behind him, he heard squeaking. The window lurched in it's frame, then started moving upward. Jumping half a foot in the air, Matt turned out the flash light and moved further back into the closet. The smell was so gross, but Terry would beat him up if he found him.  
  
There was a moan that Matt didn't even recognize, the sound of a body dragging itself through the window, and then a thud. Clenching his eyes shut, Matt waited for something terrible to happen, but it was quiet. He waited. He waited some more. Then he counted to thirteen. Slowly, he crawled out of the closet.  
  
The room was still dark, and it was quiet. Maybe whatever it was had left. He put his hands up on the bed and pulled himself up slowly, looking around. This was a great adventure. Crawling onto the bed, he turned the flash light back on. The yellow beam caught just the hint of black on the other side of the bed and Matt jumped, but whatever it was didn't move.  
  
He crept closer towards the object on the floor. The wind whipped the curtains and Matt almost pulled back, but he pressed onward. Finally, the light came to rest upon an entirely black figure on the floor. Seeing the long, pointy ears, Matt McGinnis almost wet himself.  
  
Stun turned to excitement, and before he could think about just WHY Batman would be in his brother's room and unconscious (he was sure it was because Terry was really a master criminal), he leaned over the edge of the bed and fell onto the floor next to Batman. His hero. The guy who saved him from the weird tattoo man who put him in the cage.  
  
Matt sat up and started reaching for him.  
  
And Batman's head lifted just a little-he opened his eyes with a moan, and looked right at the boy. "Matt. get outta my room."  
  
Batman's head fell back onto the floor with a thud. Matt was SURE he wet himself that time. There was just silence then. Soon Matt could hear his breathing, coupled with two heart beats. He stared at the body on the floor for a moment, then prodded The Bat with his foot. Terry didn't move.  
  
Matt changed his mind. Batman was a dork. "Mom! I found Terry!"  
  
THE END 


End file.
